The Miss
by jan.rover
Summary: Thalia Grace missed a shot, and that's BAD. Now she had to figure out a prophesy she could barely remember, choose between green or red, and most of all, make the right decision to fall in love or live the life she never wanted. THALICO! please review! :D
1. Prologue

**The Miss**

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><p>AN: Hey, there! It's been a really long time since I posted Thalico fic! Phew! ;P  
>I'm reading Son of Neptune (barely reaching a quarter of it yet!), and I was really, really, REALLY, surprised with Nico's participation there! RICK RIORDAN'S THE BEST! xD<p>

ANyway, before I go spoiling, what I wanted to say was that S-O-N got me to writing this story. :]

Actually, this prologue started out as a drabble, so is Chapter 1, but I figured I could come up with a good story out of it if I want to. haha!

SO...please do continue reading! And p l e a s e... review! alright? tell me what you think! :D

Here it is!

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><p>PROLOGUE<p>

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><p><em><strong>Thalia<strong>_

My muscles throbbed from stalking and running for hours. I could feel my sweat running down my face, and I blinked some off from my eyes as I gripped my bow tighter. There was a slight breeze, and leaves ruffled overhead. I waited, patiently feeling the ground beneath me. I could feel my sisters well hidden, ready and well-tuned on me as well as on the target.

I loaded my bow and aimed, but as though used to the routine just as we were, it trotted off and ran away. I cursed under my breath and ran after it, my sisters trailed behind me.

We ducked a few branches, easily maneuvering despite the thick vegetation. Well, if you've been a Hunter for like, a long time, forests like this would seem like a toddler's jigsaw puzzle. We reached a small clearing, old roots knotted around the perimeter, and I immediately felt the end of this test. I glanced at Phoebe, the Hunt's second lieutenant, and she fired right below its golden hooves, making it stop for a moment.

That was my cue.

I stopped, aimed, and felt the surge of power flow in me like it always did since I've become a Hunter. I've done this a thousand times, and '_confident_' seemed an understatement. We weren't going to kill Lady Artemis' golden deer; we wouldn't have been able to anyway. All I had to do was to aim, and make a clear shot, and Lady Artemis would know it was over.

And so that's what I did. I fired...and missed.

I had no idea what happened. I was frozen to my bones, my arms felt limp on my sides as I watched the Golden deer scratch the ground once and stare at me before disappearing in a bright golden light. I was confused, shocked, embarrassed, and most of all…well, embarrassed, because a good archer doesn't miss a shot! A _Hunter of Artemis_ never misses a shot; and the most painful fact of all, the First Lieutenant, daughter of Zeus and second-in-command of the goddess Artemis, _never_, _ever_, misses the target—especially if it's an easy shot.

But then I did.

My sisters watched me with concern and suspicion; and I couldn't blame them, this thing—this blatant miss—doesn't just happen to any member of the Hunt, let alone its finest lieutenant. And as if things could get any better, the goddess appeared right on the spot where the deer had just been; and by the way she stared at me in the eyes, I knew right away that this was just the beginning.

...

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><p>AN: I know, I know, it's pretty short...no, it's really short! But like I said, it's a drabble, and I used this as the firewood of the whole plot. This would start the plot rolling, which I had pretty much figured out. NO, didnt' write it yet, 'cause I'm debating whether I should use the character's POV or a third-person for narration...sigh. THough this one's on Thalia's POV, the next chapter won't be, and I think I would never have fixed narration-strategy. ANy ideas?

Please, please, please, REVIEW! Reviews on first chapters or prologues are really important for an author, because it either makes them want to continue or not... haha!

alright? Please let me know what you think! :D  
>Ja!<p> 


	2. Chapter 1

**The Miss**

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><p>AN: Hey! THis is chapter1, it's in third person narration, and is a little bit longer than the prologue. I promise! xD

I finished this way back...a few weeks (?) after I wrote that drabble in the prologue, and I figured that I should post it right away since it's ready. I can't promise much, 'cause I only wanted this chapter to establish something between the main characters-the thalico pair, yes. :]

But I promise more happenings in the next chapters. So please read along! And review! :D

Here it is.

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><p>Chapter 1: <strong>VIRTUAL COUSIN<strong>

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><p>"The Hunters are here!"<p>

Nico di Angelo sure heard Leo's neck snap upon hearing the sudden announcement. Taking advantage of the split second distraction, the son of Hades side-stepped and went for a lay-up. He was about to give Jason a high-five when he noticed that the blond was already running towards the big Pine tree.

Jason waved back at them without stopping on his tracks. "My sister's here!"

Leo Valdez contemplated for a moment—looking at Jason, then to Nico's dark brown eyes, and back to the direction of the Pine tree. "Uh…see you around!"

Nico rolled his eyes and shrugged. There was a strange stillness around him as he took a moment to stare at his friends' invincible tracks. Since when did the Hunters' coming become such a fuss? Didn't everyone hate them? What's there to get excited about?

Maybe it's because of their new lieutenant; she's an ex-camper anyway. Yeah. Probably that.

Nico shrugged off a few dry leaves from his silky black hair as the wind blew, deciding that maybe it's just Jason and Leo who's all too excited. Or maybe Annabeth, too. And Percy. And maybe Chiron. Which, he suddenly figured, was practically everyone who cared—and mattered.

_Cousin_. Nico never thought of her that way. Come to think of it, it's an interesting but weird thing to consider. His cousin just arrived. Should he feel the way his friends do?

Feeling the weight of his thoughts boring down on him, Nico frowned at himself. _Maybe. _Maybe he should feel the way Jason does towards the Hunters' arrival. Maybe he should be jumping for joy, or feel all happy and gay about it all…or maybe not.

Maybe he's just being paranoid. If not that, he'd be more than happy to feel the way Jason does if it was his _real_ sister who'd just arrived. Maybe, if it wasn't the Hunters and only some old friend instead, he would have felt a little excited.

He shrugged. He should stop thinking by now, or it'll eat him up and ruin his day. For a son of Hades who has a reputation to be an _emo, _it sounded like something that would surely happen should he not stop moping. Turning his heels to go the opposite way, he sighed. _What's on with me? _It wasn't their fault anyway—Bianca's death—and he'd long ago accepted that. So why feel bitter now? Why feel like an outcast, when in fact, nobody wanted him to feel that?

A voice boomed inside his head, scolding him for even thinking about these things. They ought to be forgotten! And if he didn't want to get tied by emotional setbacks, he should find his feet and walk away.

But then a smaller voice yelled the same intensity, but a different message: _What__'__s __there __to __lose?_

Fighting his urge to scream like a frustrated baby, he ground his teeth and grunted irritably—turning his heels again and listened to the tiny voice. The next thing he knew, he was staring at some perky reunion. Jason seemed the happiest, so was Annabeth, though Percy looked kind of…being bullied by the daughter of Zeus, and that made him smirk. Leo, on the other hand, tried and failed to get the raven-haired lieutenant's attention, and for some reason that made his smirk widen a bit. Yet again he felt like a third wheel—though it doesn't exactly apply since they were quite a lot there—and that maybe he shouldn't have come here; but when her eyes glanced his way, and she smiled at him, he found himself not regretting it.

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><p>AN: So! What do you think? Yeah, I know, there's not much to review about, but I'm so open for suggestions! Hey, I probably should mention, too, that I'm thinking about incorporating Leo Valdez in up-coming chapters. Do tell me your thoughts, please, and tick that review button down there. alright? Great!

Ja! :D


	3. Chapter 2

**The Miss**

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><p>AN: First of all, I'd like express my full gratitude for the outstanding...2 reviews! :D

Yeah, I know, it's not much, but a review is still a review. lol.

Anyway, here's another establishing chapter. As promised, there would be more happenings as compared to the prologue and chapter 1... It's still kind of short, but it's waaaay longer than the previous ones. yes!

I hope you'll like it, and will make you want to stay tuned. hehe.

So...here it is! :D

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><p>Chapter 2: <strong>CHIT-CHAT WITH THE GOD OF BLINDING WHITE TEETH<strong>

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><p><strong><em>Thalia<em>**

I looked around me, but even with my trained senses as a Hunter, I couldn't make much of the thick fog enveloping whatever's around me. "Hello?"

Nothing.

I took my bow from my shoulder magically, and as if on cue I heard footsteps, and I loaded my bow with a silver arrow. The footsteps sounded hollow but loud, as though we were in a really big, empty, room. "Who's there?" I asked, and heard my voice back in a really creepy echo. I was pretty sure Cabin8 wasn't some hollow, empty room that could make echoes like this; so I decided I was probably dreaming.

That should've been good, since I've been handling so much stress these past few days now to deal with this nothingness around me for this to turn out to be real; but as a demigod, dreams function as a warning, or a foreboding, or simply to confuse you and make your life a lot more miserable.

I was about to find out now.

The footsteps sounded close, and as though being controlled by it, the fog slowly dispersed, leaving me gaping at Rachel Elizabeth Dare. I was about to ask where were we, but when I looked around and saw the pre-historic type of internal design, I shut up. We were in the cave of the Camp's Oracle.

Rachel was obviously in a trance—and I wondered if she could really announce prophesies in her dreams—but when she opened her mouth, I swear that the words seemed to slap me in the face.

"An oath of a lifetime, in days will sublime,

Fate of the Nightshade, shall repeat in time;

Else evade the green flame, thy obviate the red,

The daughter of lighting shall choose love,

And break thy pledge."

I gaped at her. "What are talking about?" She just issued me a prophesy!

I was about to hold Rachel by her shoulders and shake her for some explanation, when a pair of gorgeous hands—you should see for yourself!—beat me there. I looked up, and well, flushed like the thousand times I've seen him smile at me.

"Hullo, there, Daughter of lightning."

"…"

He smiled that cocky smile and I thought my body would die in sleep with blood clot, for he made me flush deeper I bet my face would make a ripe tomato rot in shame… Tell me I didn't just admit that like some Aphrodite girl.

"You're welcome." He said. "I get that all the time. Want a haiku?"

Hearing that somehow got me back to my senses. I cleared my throat and pointed at Rachel. "Uh, she's just dreaming, too, isn't she? That prophesy…that just couldn't be…uhm, valid."

"Yes. Maybe, not. And no." I raised an eyebrow and the sun god shrugged. "Let's just say your dreams got intertwined with hers."

"Oh that makes it so much clear to me."

Apollo tilted his head to one side as if checking how sarcastic I could get if I want to. Then he grinned. "And that prophesy's valid, by the way."

I blinked. "Was that for me?"

He chuckled and made that really annoying buzzer sound that plays whenever time's up or if a contestant got the wrong answer. "Sorry, wrong question. You were supposed to figure that out."

I rolled my eyes. _Asifthe 'Daughter of lighting' didn't make it obvious._ "But—"

"Anywaaay," Apollo cut me off, grinning really wide when I bit my lip instead of letting out a glare. He stared at me for a moment, making me self-conscious. "I saw what happened yesterday."

I froze. Of course he would know, he's Lady Artemis' twin brother! They were supposed to be more tuned to each other than anything else. Besides, that miss was really…something.

But I frowned, looked away, and tried not to rot in shame. "What're you talking about?"

"The Hunt's first lieutenant missed an easy shot." Apollo pointed out, and when I glanced, he was eyeing me with that really amused expression in his face. Which didn't make me feel better, by the way.

I gulped back the edging emotions, which surprised me, 'cause Thalia Grace don't cry over things like, maybe, getting a demerit for _missing _that really clear shot? Or facing a really confusing prophesy specifically issued for me? Or maybe simply for the fact that this sun god's actually bullying me!

"I—." I croaked, caught myself and glared at my shoes. "I don't understand. I didn't do anything wrong…"

"No, you didn't." Apollo said. "That's one reason why I'm here." I faced him again and waited; then he flashed me his blinding white teeth as he continued, "You have to understand. Major prophesies, those you hear for quests, are so important Fate just couldn't allow them to be issued in a dream." Apollo paused, letting it sink. "Prophesies are shadows of Fate. When Fate wants something, it manifests through prophesies; and when great, fate-altering things tend to happen, major prophesies are issued."

I blinked.

"But the one you just heard…" He continued. "It's a minor one."

"So the world would not end if I bypass it?"

"Heck, _your_ life could get ruined if you bypass it." I gawked at him and he smiled again. "Fine, fine…that prophesy's for you, Thalia Grace. Fate is at work in your life now."

I shrugged and muttered under my breath, "Tell me about it."

He laughed. I watched him, and narrowed my eyes. "What's it got to do with you, anyway? Did you pop in my dream just to give me a lecture on Prophesies 101?"

"Nah." Apollo replied. "I'm just some interested sun god who's going to watch from Olympus above." He grinned, waved a hand, and patted Rachel's shoulder. Hey, I almost forgot about her! "Kidding. Let's just say that there are things my sister couldn't say to your face so she let me roll the ball."

"What?"

"You'll understand." He said. "Later."

I was about to ask when_ 'later'_ would be, when the ground shook; and the walls of the Rachel's cave didn't look so sturdy anymore. The fog started to come from nowhere, quickly making it difficult to see.

"Lord Apollo?" I shouted over the loud thundering sound in the cave.

"Sorry, I bet my sister just heard that!" his voice echoed, but with the thickening fog I couldn't see him anymore. "I should go now, Thalia Grace. Remember the prophesy... You can get your old life back if you want. All you have to do is make the right decision."

The ground gave out, shattered like thin glass, and I fell in, screaming.

And that's when I woke up.

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><p>AN: There! What do you think? Was Thalia kind of OOC for blushing too much? Can you blame her? lol. What do you think of Apollo? The prophesy?

Please do let me know what you think! If you don't like it, let me know as well. ;P

So please, please, p l e a s e...review! :D


	4. Chapter 3

**The Miss**

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><p>AN: Hey! Here's chapter three, as you can see. And as promised, it's quite longer now. hehe.

So...here it is! :D

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><p>Chapter 3: <strong>REALITY CHECK FROM THE SON OF HADES<strong>

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><p><em><strong>Thalia<strong>_

I stared at the Camp's clearing, watched a few campers run about. The wind blew and I put a lock of hair behind my ear. It's been three nights since that _dream_. I thought I could get over it, I even believed I would forget it when I wake up in the morning…but then, unfortunately, I remembered it all too well. Everything except the prophesy.

"Hey."

I almost jumped. Looking over my shoulder, Phoebe was staring at me like I had just danced the Dougie in front of her. "Are you alright?"

"Uh, yes." I tried for a smile, she raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged. "Bad sleep."

She scoffed, as though I just explained everything and it matched her reasons. "I want to get out of here. I wish Lady Artemis would come back sooner."

I opened my mouth, but then closed it again, not really knowing what to say. Among all of us in the Hunt, I was the only one who enjoyed being at Camp Halfblood.

Phoebe eyed me for a moment, and I bet she was thinking about that incident with the miss. I wanted to defend myself right there and then; for some reason I didn't like the way the others stare at me either with pity or concern or judgment. I know I'm being unfair, I had no idea what they really thought about that incident, but can you blame me?

Then she sighed, putting a hand on my shoulder. "I think you should rest."

"I'm fine." I grumbled.

She chuckled, and I wondered if she's ever been this nice to a guy in her entire life. "I'll look over them, don't worry. You can go chat with Annabeth." I stared at her and she rolled her eyes. "Fine. Fine. I'll try not to start a fight." I raised an eyebrow. "Fine! I'll try to stay away from any of the boys, and I _won__'__t_ start a fight."

I smirked. "But they're not all that bad here."

It was Phoebe's turn to stare at me. I was pretty sure she wanted to say, 'hey, you were supposed to hate boys!', but chose not to. Instead she muttered, "Whatever." then called out to the rest of the Hunters as they headed out to breakfast.

I know what you're thinking. I should've just come with them and make sure for myself nobody starts a fight. But for some reason I didn't want to. Half of me didn't want to start the day, the other half wanted otherwise.

Whenever I tried to think about the prophesy, all I could get were fuzzy bits and pieces. Annabeth told me that the best way to recall something vital was to try to remember every detail from the beginning. And I tried that a hundred times now, but to no avail. Talk about failing.

I leaned on the post by the Cabin's veranda and crossed my arms over my chest. I could remember Rachel being there, in a trance, yes, and… Apollo was there, yes… and his teeth were blindingly white, yes…

I blinked. I shouldn't think about that.

Those were the basics, the, uh, characters in my dream… "Remember the prophesy", his voice echoed in my head, and I huffed under my breath, stopping the urge to roll my eyes. That guy knew I was going to forget, huh?

"Hey."

I looked, and came face to face with my brother, and my worries instantly fade away. "Hey."

Watching Jason walk to stand beside me, I marveled at how the Fates allowed us to be apart, and then reunite us just like that. _Fates __are __at __work __in __your __life __now_, Apollo's voice suddenly echoed in my mind, and my heart skipped a beat.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I replied almost too fast, but I managed a smile. "Just…bad dream."

Jason paused, his eyes boring down on me as if trying to topple down my lying, but he dropped it. "Be careful with that." he said, and he almost hit the bull's eye.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, dreams shouldn't just be bypassed." He said. I was about to say something when he put an arm over my shoulder and pulled me close. "Come on, you shouldn't skip breakfast, sis."

"H-hey!" I protested, putting both my weight on both feet to stop him from dragging me with him. "You can't just drag your older sister!"

Jason chuckled. "Sorry, little brother will have to drag you to the pavilion."

I was going to put up a little more resistance, but he was just too strong I had to follow his lead. With his arm still over my shoulder, I elbowed him in the gut. "That's for trying to harass me."

He doubled over, but I bet that didn't hurt him so much.

We walked the length of the cabin area, talking about random stuff. I looked around, stared at some cabins and took in the massive changes in the design, architecture, and layouts. I stared at the white columns of Cabin 1, and felt a pang of discomfort as I tried to recall what it was like to live there instead.

Breakfast went in a blur. Jason literally dragged me with him. After filling my plate with practically my favorites and offering some to our dad, and to Artemis, Jason pulled me to Zeus' table; and I had to glance at Phoebe pleadingly to pass it, he's my brother anyway. Annabeth waved from their table, and Percy nodded as I passed.

Our tables were only a few feet away. The tables were now arranged in the same pattern with cabins', so that Zeus' table was in the middle; on its right was Poseidon. So basically Percy was only a few feet away.

"Hey.", he greeted. He looked great, like he really had a great sleep. I wondered how bad I looked.

"Hey." I answered.

Unfortunately, he kind of sensed it. "Are you okay?"

"That's twice now, but yes." I replied coolly, stabbing at my bacon and not daring a glance at my brother. Glancing up indifferently, I added, "Bad dream."

Percy nodded, but his eyes lingered on me like he was thinking, _'__I __must__'__ve __looked __this __bad __when __the __Great __Prophesy __was __issued __to __me.__'_, but of course, there was no way he could've picked anything about the prophesy from my face.

"Ookay." He muttered, and then went back to eating.

I let out a quiet sigh of relief. Since when did Percy become so perceptive?

My fork stabbed on the bacon again, and I resolved on looking around the pavilion. On the far end, about a few feet from Hermes' cabin's dining table was a lone guy. He was eating alone, like Percy, and he looked kind of…sad. No, actually, he looked kind of comfortable; but he didn't look like he's happy with it. He was wearing a black t-shirt with a tongue of green flame printed on it, black jeans, and black Converse. His hair looked kind of shaggy, but it looked good on him. Then I felt my cheeks warm.

I was staring at a guy.

Instinctively, I looked over at the Hunters', and sighed in relief when I saw they were pretty busy minding their own business.

"Okay, you're freaking me out, sis." Jason suddenly cut in my thoughts. "You're hiding something from me."

Jason's eyes looked so electrifying I thought they bore right down on my skin I could almost feel them.

"No, I'm not."

My brother stared at me a little longer, and I thought that my lying face could've fallen anytime soon. "Then why are you—" He caught himself, his eyes glanced across the room and then went back to staring me down. "Nevermind. You'll have to tell me what's bothering you, Thalia."

"Like I said, it's just a dream." I managed to sound really calm and convincing, but I was pretty sure Annabeth was already staring at us from their table. It's not every day that you see arguing children of Zeus in Camp Half-blood.

Jason didn't look like he was going to drop it, but he finally sighed. "Fine." He mumbled, but I swear I saw him look at me from the corner of his eyes as though checking me out.

I didn't mean to lie to my brother, but if I had to tell him, at least I should know what to really tell him. I'm not even sure myself! I couldn't even remember so much about what Rachel—

I blinked. _Rachel._

Of course, why hadn't I thought about it?

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><p>"So…I issued you a prophesy?"<p>

"Yes."

Rachel paled, and I swear she kind of looked better in my dream. She stared at me, opened her mouth, and then closed it before she blushed. "I…"

I stared at her, blinked, and it hit me. "Oh, you mean—oh—bad." I muttered, my arms falling on my sides. "You don't remember?"

"Sorry." Rachel mumbled, but regained composure and reached for my arm. "I-I'm really kind of clueless when I'm on duty."

We were outside the Big House, by the porch. I kind of sneaked out after breakfast, when Jason was talking to Piper. I didn't really mean to sneak out…well, yeah, maybe a bit, but with the way he immediately suspected something was up, I decided to keep it away from him for the meantime.

"We were at your cave." I prodded gently, trying to not sound bossy or demanding—not that I am, it's just…oh, ask Zeus and his peculiar leadership genes.

She shook her head.

I bit my gum. "There was fog all around me—"

"There was fog inside my cave?"

I paused. "Y-yeah, I know that doesn't make any sense, but anyway, that's how it seemed to me before you appeared." I explained. "And then Apollo showed up."

Rachel shook her head again. "Now that's something." She said. "My boss doesn't just—"

I nodded. "That's why I'm asking you."

Rachel paused to think. The wind blew and the nearby trees rustled their leaves.

"I think…" She said after a while. "I think Lord Apollo wanted to…to emphasize the prophesy. That's why he was there."

I stared at her, trying not to look incredulous. "He gave me a lecture."

For some reason, the red-haired mortal chuckled. "Prophesy 101, isn't it?" She grinned at me. "He loves to give that lecture."

I sighed, now starting to feel kind of hopeless.

"I'm sorry." Rachel put a hand on my shoulder. "I really wish I could remember what I said in your dream."

I shrugged, feeling kind of guilty for pushing her, and tried for a smile. "It's alright, Rachel. I'll figure it out."

Deep down, I doubted.

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><p>Swoosh.<p>

A silver arrow went past a passerby's head, and a ceramic figurine of a Minotaur shattered.

_That's for that stupid dream._

I notched another arrow, positioned myself, and fired aimlessly.

Swoosh.

The arrow hit Medusa's eye and the figurine fell down the ground.

_That's for that really, really, stupid prophesy. _

I straightened up and again fought the urge to let out a frustrated cry.

I pulled another arrow, notched it, and imagined it was Apollo's smug grin right there on the ceramic manticore's face. Aiming with full concentration, I narrowed my eyes, and fired.

"Jason's looking for you."

The arrow practically missed the teeth about an inch, but the figurine fell down. I looked over the shoulder, my glare ready for the one who dared disturb me.

But, well, instead I found myself staring at someone's collar bone.

I looked up—I hated doing that when talking with towering boys, and it doesn't have anything to do with being a Hunter—and saw the same boy from breakfast. His hair looked really messed up, but they somehow made his face look kind of boyish, if not because of his dark, brown, eyes that looked kind of…mature.

"Nico?" I blurted out.

The Son of Hades raised an eyebrow. "Why do I always get that?"

If you were born in the nineteen forties, and you happened to look like you're fifteen, then you would've surprised anyone as good as Nico did to me. No wonder his eyes looked different. Somehow, he seemed older. Way older.

Luckily, I managed to regain my composure. I zeroed on him the way I was trained—and that is to pick out any minute detail that could deviate myself from hating a guy though now it seemed kind of difficult with all those black clothes—and stared him in the eyes. I swear my glares were sharp, but he didn't seem to be fazed by it.

"You're…taller."

Nico di Angelo smirked, and I hated how my body reacted to that. "I grow up."

He said the last two words with a playful emphasis, as though some private joke. I rolled my eyes, because those words had always made me think of the many _if_s in my life—and I didn't want to think about those things right now.

"What do you want?" I muttered coldly, not liking the train of thoughts running in my mind right now with him suddenly popping beside me. I notched another arrow, and glanced at him, waiting for a reply.

His face was blank, so perfectly…masked, but though I couldn't read them, his eyes seemed to bore down right to my soul. And I wondered if he could really do that, being a Son of Hades and all… Then he looked away. I blinked. _Maybe not._

"I said Jason's looking for you." Nico said, and then his eyes squinted a bit. He didn't say anything, but I swear his expression said something like, 'Hey, that's like…fifteen feet away, and you're having a two-inch Mythomagic figurines as targets?'

I smirked with pride. But there was that tingling at the back of my neck, and I suddenly felt conscious of the eyes that could've seen me talking to a boy.

"Jason's waiting at the basketball court."

"Tell him you didn't see me."

I fired, and the small Minotaur figurine shattered.

"Your brother senses something wrong, you know."

"What does it have to do with you?"

"Nothing."

I looked at him. He didn't even sound hurt. Nor did he look hurt!

"So do you remember it now?"

I blinked, my heart raced.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Uh…I'm not sure." Nico replied, running a hand at the back of his neck. "But you sure look like those ghosts in Asphodel…trying to remember something."

I changed my mind. What I said a Son of Hades' eyes boring right down to your soul? Positive.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I mumbled.

"Okay." Nico said, turning towards the beach.

I notched another arrow, knowing he would leave already. I was about to fire when he half-turned to me again.

"You can go on wasting your time trying to remember, if it's really that important." He said, and I looked at him. "But in case you've forgotten too, you don't have eternity to spend here at camp, you know."

With that Nico di Angelo walked away; and I wondered if he meant something else.

I notched another arrow, deciding it would be the last for now, and aimed; thoughts about the miss, the dream and the forgotten prophesy, Jason, and what Nico said, came running in my head. For some reason I wondered about the latter. Bianca's death…well, when you lose a sibling, the pain never goes away. I was pretty sure that a Hunter of Artemis would be the last person he'd want to talk to in a random time of a day.

I blinked. Then again, I shouldn't be thinking about those things.

With a sigh, I fired…and froze.

Because for the second time, I missed.

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><p>AN: THere! What do you think? :]

I'm working on the next chapter now, so stay tuned! Please do review!


	5. Chapter 4

**The Miss**

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><p>AN: Hey! I'd like to say first that I'm happy with the encouraging reviews I got for the previous chapters! And they got me going for this one!

I hope it's good! If it's not, then please do let me know, alright?

So...here it is! :D

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><p>Chapter 4: <strong>THE FIRST TEST: LEADERSHIP<strong>

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><p><em><strong>Thalia<strong>_

I ducked as an arrow went right past my head. Firing my own silver arrows in one shot, three Apollo kids staggered back even in their armors. Phoebe met my eyes, and she immediately sped away to the bushes, firing some arrows to the defenders. I had no idea what she was planning, but I trust Phoebe's judgments.

It was Capture the Flag, and just as it has always been when the Hunters would visit, it was the time when the whole of Camp Half-blood could bring on their hate. Apparently, the feeling was mutual for most of my sisters. Except me, though. I wasn't going to indulge in hating the XY-chromosome species. But, hey, I would definitely crush Percy's butt in this one. I was pretty sure he's somewhere in the hind-lines, defending the radius near their flag. If I could just…

Then there was a loud thud. An arrow almost pierced me, if not for Aegis spread wide in front of me. I let out a sigh of relief and thanked my dad up in the skies—literally—Lady Artemis, and most especially, my ADHD for practically keeping my defenses up.

Despite the loud battle cries, I could hear the nearby stream. Switching on autopilot, I ran and ducked, sliced, and shot, speeding my way towards the stream. But just when I was about to make it for the last turn around a big tree, someone yanked me back—no, someone yanked me downwards.

"Hey!"

Suddenly I felt weightless, and I instinctively closed my eyes. The hairs in my arms stood up, and I felt cold despite my parka. The worst of all, I felt afraid. It took me everything to stop myself from screaming!

Then it was all gone.

I struggled, flailing my arms against the strong ones that held me in place. There was screaming, but the battle cries sounded kind of far away, which didn't make any sense to me…

"H-hey! Stop!"

I continued to fight, my eyes still closed with the lingering feeling of cold and fear from that short moment, until I grabbed on his hair.

"Ow! Hey, stop moving or I'll shadow travel you to California!"

I stiffened. _Shadow travel?_ I opened my eyes, and looked at the handful of shaggy black hair in my hands, to the angry dark eyes of Nico di Angelo. My hands immediately let go of his hair, and I instinctively reached for my spear, putting its length between us. My throat kind of ached, and I realized in a sudden blush that I was the one screaming my head off.

Nico's eyebrows seemed to scrunch even more at the sight of the spear, his hand on his hair as he massaged his scalp. "Will you drop that?"

"How dare you use that trick on me, you—"

"How dare _you_ grab my hair!" He yelled back, not even scared of my spear nor my shield. "I said drop that, Thalia." For some reason, hearing my name snapped me back from my heating temper. At the same instant he seemed to calm down a bit, too, and he continued in a more modulated tone. "There's an emergency."

I blinked. And my mind raced for what possible dangers anyone could ever face in a Capture the Flag. Broken ribs? Deep, bleeding, wounds? But by the way this Son of Hades held my gaze, I didn't take the risk of doubting.

"What happened?" I asked, my mind groping for the fastest route to the main battle field. I looked around me. The forest looked the same, and considering that I'm still on the same state…

I picked out a random direction and ran, feeling my pulse against my temples. Suddenly there was a hand around my wrist.

"Not there."

Nico pulled me to the opposite direction, and before I could even pick a colorful word from my Swear Armory, he grabbed me closer with both hands and we both disappeared in the shadows.

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><p>Luckily, we appeared safely under the shade of Juniper's tree, near Zeus' fists. I stifled a scream so hard I hit the Son of Hades in the arm.<p>

"Ow! What was that for?"

I glared at him, and before I could say something, I heard Phoebe's voice a few yards from us. She was yelling at Travis and Connor, and by the way they argued, I knew it couldn't be resolved with a pep talk. "What now?"

I ran towards the commotion, and I heard Nico huff something under his breath before he trailed behind me.

"You should know better than cross a lieutenant of Artemis!" Phoebe yelled at Travis, an accusing finger pointed at the son of Hermes.

"What's a lieutenant of Artemis gotta do? Fire me arrows that turn into flowers?" Sherman, a son of Ares, said mockingly. "Pretty little roses pricked me!"

The campers chortled, and more of my sisters joined in the swearing. By the look of it, I was pretty sure we only had a few minutes to stop another war.

"Stop!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, but though I was only a few yards away, nobody seemed to hear me.

They continued to argue, but then Phoebe suddenly pushed Sherman with both hands in full strength. That seemed to be the last straw. I saw the Campers' eyes fire with excitement, their weapons on the ready for a brand new mission. And just when Sherman was about to raise his arm against Phoebe, a boy all clad in black appeared in front of him.

"Stop that!"

I blinked. I looked over my shoulder and cursed under my breath. That little—ugh!—just shadow traveled to the scene! We were like, running, you know. So that's cheating!

Anyway, Sherman belted out a really loud laughter. "What, you're now, uh, Artemis' _honorary_ lieutenant?"

For a moment there I thought Nico would already summon his battalion of skeleton warriors. But to my surprise, he simply glared at the son of Ares with—I have to say—such an amazing control of patience.

Finally, after eons of running and witnessing and all, I managed to get to them. "What the hell's going on here?"

"Oh, brother." Mark, another son of Ares, shook his head mockingly.

With an unbelievable difficulty, I imitated Nico and kept my cool. I turned to Phoebe.

"Those guys…" Phoebe glared past my shoulders. "They put something in our arrows—"

"—mine turned into a carnation!"

"—and we couldn't do about it, so we—"

"So you chose to drop the hey-look-at-us-were-all-mighty-and-stuff, and went right to our faces to accuse us." Sherman finished with that really ugly smug face. "Those are really big accusations, you know."

Nico turned to the guy and looked up—literally—to him, and snapped, "Shut up, Sherman."

As if on cue, Percy bolted right into the scene. "Hey, what's happening here?"

"Thanks for asking again." I mumbled under my breath and looked away when he glanced at me.

"Your filthy friends cheated!" Marie, one of our youngest recruits, shouted from behind.

"What?"

Phoebe gladly turned to Percy bitterly. "These filthy, bad-mouth, gits—"

"Hey!" Percy face-palmed. "Watch the language!"

"—sabotaged our weapons! Our arrows turned into flowers and weeds, and our boots…" Pheobe gulped, her anger obviously up to the brim.

Sure enough, Phoebe and the others were already barefoot. Yeah, we spend most of our time camping and hunting in the woods, but nothing's very easy without proper footwear. Even Lady Artemis fancies signature label boots.

I glared at the sons of Ares, as well as the Stoll brothers. I had a feeling that this wasn't simply a matter of empty accusations.

"Maybe you ladies are just wimps." A daughter of Aphrodite yelled from behind the sons of Ares. "Why don't you replace those boots with high heels instead?"

"Alright, that's it." I snapped, my spear immediately sparked with literal electrifying excitement. I took a step forward, but then Percy held me back. That daughter of Aphrodite should thank the gods I didn't see her face or she might get back to their cabin not having it.

"Hey, listen!" Percy raised his hands and faced my sisters. "The flowers were probably because of the Demeter cabin. The vines, the weeds…those were, uh, strategies—"

"Cheater!"

"—and that—hey! We're not cheaters!" Percy snapped impatiently. "You'll have to understand that the Camp's up to twenty cabins now. It's practically everyone against you guys!"

"Girls!"

"I-I mean g-girls!"

Another loud, colorful, swear words flew in the air, both from the Campers and the Hunters; and Percy sighed and turned to me. I shrugged. This was obviously about the Camp picking up on us Hunters…or yeah, maybe vice versa, whatever; but I was kind of glad that Percy wasn't too thrilled about taking sides.

"But what about the shoes?" I cut in the swearing like knife over butter, not really liking the idea of being torn between my two families. "Annabeth doesn't _strategize_ about opponents' shoes."

"I definitely don't strategize about sabotaging opponents' shoes." It was Annabeth. She was briskly walking towards us, her plumed helmet still on her head, and their Red flag in her hand. Jason was trailing behind her, along with a skinny boy with dark, curly hair, a peculiar and unruly get-up, as though he had just got off from his bunk of grease and metal. The sudden presence of a female leader material somehow lessened the tension from my sisters; especially when Annabeth looked at the Stolls. "Why don't you guys explain about the shoes?"

"Wh-what—"

Connor cut in his brother. "W-we don't know anything about it!"

"Hey, people, before you go on…" The boy with the curly hair cut in; that impish grin plastered on his face. He held up a small, technical-looking, device and said, "I've got tons of these installed all over camp, you know. It's a camouflage camera, blends in whatever background. Not actually hidden, but you can call it hidden alright, for simplicity's sake. So…" The Stolls gawked at him. Sherman glared, and the boy let out a throaty chuckle. "S-so yeah…we'll find out the truth, anyway."

There was a nervous pause, just a minute of a second, and I swear I saw Sherman's glare flash Connor and Travis' way.

"F-fine!" Travis threw his hands in the air. "Sherman made us do it."

Steam seemed to spew out of the Sherman's nose, but then maybe not. "You little—" He took a step toward Travis, but with a quick movement, Jason pointed his sword at the guy's throat. I didn't even notice him move, but just like a classic Roman warrior, he went for the killer stance. Harsh, but sure.

"Why?" Jason asked.

"There's a lot at stake!" Connor answered half-heartedly. "Benefits and all. Heck, Cabin 5 would beat our butts up if we wouldn't do it! Besides, who would want to loose with a bunch of girls?"

I bit my gum, and from the corner of my eyes I was pretty sure Nico was watching my temper. For some reason, with his eyes tuned on me even for just a second, it felt…kind of uncomfortable. "That would totally be embarrassing." I muttered sarcastically under my breath.

"This is not a fight between males and females." Annabeth said. But with her distinct air as she spoke, it sounded more like she was scolding the guys. "You men are so arrogant and proud you can't even put up a fair fight?"

The look at Percy and Nico's face were priceless that I had to stop myself from smiling. But Annabeth waved them off, as though that excused them already from being labeled "arrogant and proud who can't even put up a fair fight".

"Right." Jason mumbled, perfectly concealing the fact that Annabeth kind of missed that he, Percy, and Nico were actually _men_, too. "This was supposed to be a friendly match."

"Friendly?" Connor belted out, then let out a bitter laugh. "They hit our cabin windows with their arrows!"

"Those little girls right over there pretended to be polite and all, then they used our products at Hermes' Cabin's store as targets!" Travis added, and then sighed like he was computing how much they lost morally and financially. "They were too far away, like, half of the length of the Cabin's perimeter, so we didn't know it was them right away. But it's not like the silver arrow didn't give them away."

"So we thought it would be a pretty revenge." Connor summarized.

"There!" Sherman gestured a hand towards the Stolls, no longer minding Jason's lance. "As sons of Ares, we simply know how to… _strategize_."

He said that with a malicious glance at Annabeth, who returned a glare before looking at Percy, then to me. But then I was too taken aback with the revelations that I simply found myself staring at Phoebe. "Is it true?"

Phoebe looked away.

As if on cue, the sound of hooves broke us from our moment, and we all looked at the approaching centaur. Jason put his lance down.

Chiron looked at us, surveyed us like a really experienced microscope—a thousand year old microscope. And for a moment there I thought he was going to take his side, but then with his own commanding voice, he looked at me. I almost shrunk under his stare, but then he looked at Annabeth, then to Percy, and to the others. "This Capture the Flag is officially over. Everyone get back to your cabins now."

"Just like that?" Sherman asked. "No winners?"

Another fit of argument and colorful swearing would've gone if it weren't for Chiron's unwavering command. "Not until I weigh things out." He said, then he glanced at Nico for a fraction of second before turning back to everyone. "And that would be later. Sherman, why don't you lead your brothers back to your cabin first?"

Sherman and his brothers left first. The Stoll brothers didn't apologize, and for some reason I kind of understood where they're coming from, but still. A few more campers turned their heels to go, a few grumbled under their breath, but nobody dared to speak out loud.

At least Chiron knew who the trouble-makers were.

Chiron looked at me, held his gaze, then sighed. "It might be better if you do the same, Thalia." He said, and nodded at Nico and Annabeth before heading back to the Big House.

That's when I realized we might as well be labeled trouble-makers, too. _We_…because I was the first lieutenant, I was supposed to be in charge, and I didn't look over them like I was supposed to. I took a deep breath, turned to my sisters, and hoped my face didn't show so much frustration and disappointment; because it might look too obvious that some of those were directed to myself.

Phoebe opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her in. "Everyone shut up and get back to the Cabin. Fast."

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><p>The door shut behind me with a pretty loud 'thud'. I didn't mean to bang it close, but I guess I just did.<p>

"Why did you do it?"

There was an air of guild inside Cabin 8, but I was pretty sure nobody would give in to accepting that both sides did something wrong. Not to mention, behind their leader's back. I bet Annabeth had only figured out what the Stolls did during the battle. She might've sensed something amiss and sent Percy as a look out. And maybe that's when he had bolted into the scene.

I took a deep breath and again addressed the question to them. "I said why did you do it?"

Ironically, Marie, being the youngest, turned to me with pure bravery and answered, "It was fun!"

It was so hard to get mad at her, with all that innocence in her eyes, so I turned to glare at Phoebe. "You said you were going to look over them."

She met my eyes, and I swear her expression said something like, 'you were supposed to that', but she simply said. "I wasn't looking when they did it. Apparently, I couldn't undo anything they did."

"Oh, so you're trying to wash your hand now?" I snapped, perfectly aware of my voice already rising. "We're technically visitors here! We're not supposed to mess around!"

"But _you_ were messing around yesterday." Marie's older sister, Claire, spoke up. She looked like a carbon copy of her younger sister, but only with bitterness in her eyes folded a hundred times more. She's around sixteen, probably looking more mature and older than I was, and she's the reason young Marie's here; her childhood sweetheart had moved to another state, leaving her behind with empty promises and shattered dreams. So she joined the hunt, bringing her sister along. "You were supposed to look after us."

I gulped back the not-so-friendly words itching at the tip of my tongue, and I directed my glare at her. "Pheobe and I…" I said, glancing at the second lieutenant who then looked away. I was about to say, 'had an agreement', but dropped it instead. I wasn't going to put the blame on Phoebe's shoulders when in fact _I_ messed up, too. "Still." I said, shaking my head once. "You know better. These guys you're hating on? They're my friends, too!"

"You're supposed to hate them too!"

"No, I'm not!" I snapped back, then caught myself. Was I really supposed to do that? With the oath I had taken the day before my sixteenth birthday?

Taking a deep breath, I glanced away from them, my own personal issues mixing up. "Where was I when you did it?" I asked, my voice barely audible.

Phoebe looked up and met my eyes. "You were shooting arrows..." She said, but her eyes said something more. With the years we've been together, I was able to translate her gaze: _'…and talking to some boy.'_

With that, I turned for the door. To my surprise, little Marie ran to my side and held me back. "Where are you going?" She pouted, obviously not liking my terrible mood. "Don't leave us, alright?"

I was pretty sure she meant _leave_, like, leaving the Hunt. I've never considered it, even with the dreams, the prophesy, and all the confusion I've been these past few days. But with Maria saying that to my face, I felt a pang of discomfort. Like something so tempting yet dangerous had just been dangled in front of my face.

I looked back to Phoebe. "As second lieutenant, do your job." I said. "I'm talking to Annabeth."

"You're not leaving, right?" Marie pushed, her eyes brimmed with red.

I tried for a smile, patted her head, but didn't say anything before I opened the door.

"What're you going to tell her?" Phoebe called out just when I was about to get out.

I looked over my shoulder, stared her down, and answered. "I'm going to apologize."

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><p>AN: There! I've been kind of sleepless thinking about this chapter and how to write it, but there! P L E A S E do review! please let me know what you think! :D


	6. Chapter 5

**The Miss**

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><p>AN: Hey! I've been trying to be in writing condition, but the semester just started and I doubt if I'll ever be able to get on my writing stance anytime soon. But I managed to finish this one, though. If you noticed, the previous ones were all more of like establishing the plot, but I promise that the next few chapters will cater the pairings more clearly. I've got ideas already, let me tighten them up... haha!

So, here's Chapter5! :]

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><p>Chapter 5: <strong>FIX IT<strong>

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><p><em><strong>Thalia<strong>_

Percy stared at me. His face looked so funny I would've laughed if not because of the edging constriction in my own throat. "Th-Thal." He mumbled. "Are you alright?"

Leave it to Percy to ask the stupidest of questions. He and Annabeth were sitting on a bench near the beach, looking really serious as they talked. But Annabeth immediately forgot her boyfriend was there when she saw me.

Annabeth flashed Percy a glare as she stood up. I didn't need to say much, but I was pretty sure Percy should leave now. As if reading my thoughts, Annabeth turned to Percy. "Uhm…why don't you go talk to Nico. Thalia and I—"

"Whoah, what?" Percy got up to his feet, and was about to ask further questions when Annabeth's glares seemed to get sharper. "Oh. Oh, okay. Uhm…s-see you later." The idiot muttered, finally getting it thank gods. He glanced at me for a moment before turning to go.

I watched Percy's back as he walked away. I thought about the times we argued, the times we shared. He's a really good friend. But he's a boy. What a drawback. Was I really supposed to disown his species? What about my brother?

I looked back to Annabeth, her eyes already boring down on me. She waited patiently, and watched me take a deep breath before finally speaking up. "I'm here to apologize about what we did."

She grimaced. "You didn't do anything."

"Still." I tried to keep up a straight face, but I could feel it wavering now. "I failed to oversee them yesterday, and look what happened. It was my fault, too. I…" I gulped back. "I failed."

Annabeth shook her head, but I was more than stubborn. She stared at me with those strong, grey, eyes trying to get through me, but after a moment, she sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, then fine, it's alright. Things happen when, you know, the Hunters come over." Then she shrugged. "In that case, Percy and I failed, too." She added. "As leaders."

I felt my lips tug into a small smile. I knew she didn't like me apologizing, but she knew perfectly what to say to me, and somehow I felt a little better. But then thoughts were jumping up and down in my head now, like they all wanted to get out. Annabeth stared at me a little longer. The wind blew, and though it was refreshing, it took everything in me to keep my control. But just as a stubborn current, the annoying thoughts crashed on me. I bit my gum and half-turned to go.

Annabeth held my hand. "What is it?"

And as if on cue, I felt my guard falling down. I felt so stupid, with the tears running down my face, and I hate it. Annabeth pulled me to sit down, and she put her arm over my shoulder. Now I felt even more stupid. The little girl I used to protect and comfort before? Now she's the one trying to comfort me. The fates are indeed at work in my life now.

I shook my head. And before I knew it, words flowed out from my mouth. I told her about the last Hunt we had, about the golden deer and the fateful miss. It was so embarrassing that even hearing myself telling the story made me wince and hide my face down. I told her about the dream, Rachel and Apollo's tag-team, the sun god's lecture on Prophesy 101… I told her everything that happened. Finally, I told her about yesterday. I told her about Phoebe's offer to maybe loosen up a bit, eating breakfast with Jason, not sitting with the Hunters, my brother's skepticism, Percy's noticing…

"And while they were doing their thing… I was shooting arrows." I said. I didn't wail or whine while I cried, I wasn't about to humiliate myself and cry so loud the dryads in the forest might hear, so my voice didn't sound so hoarse as I talked. "…And Nico came."

From the corner of my eyes I saw her raise her eyebrows. "Why?"

I just shrugged. "He came to say Jason was looking for me."

"Nothing else?"

I was almost tempted to look her in the eyes, but my self-preservation kind of kicked in so I pretended not to hear. After a moment, Annabeth nodded. It was quiet for a while, and I knew she was already processing the facts, the possibilities…the solutions. "And your…sisters misunderstood that?"

I thought about that. That conversation with Nico was so short I personally didn't find anything wrong about it...well, maybe a bit. But I barely looked at him!

I sighed. "Maybe."

She shook her head in utter disgust, and muttered something like, "Such narrow minds". There was another pause, and then Annabeth turned to me with her Athena mode on. "You said something about Apollo telling you to 'remember the prophesy'."

I nodded.

"Did you?"

I shook my head.

"Any…bits and pieces?"

I paused to think, racking my brain for precious information, and I winced. "I…I remember something about choosing." I blinked then turned to Annabeth. "That doesn't sound good, does it?"

"No."

I looked at the horizon. "…and there's…there's that line maybe about green and red?" I buried my face in my hands in frustration, hearing my own muffled voice muttering some colorful words in Ancient Greek.

Annabeth shook her head, too. "That's bad."

I crossed my arms and sighed. "Mm-hmn."

"Maybe that's why you seemed a little…detached." She said.

I looked at her. "I was that obvious?"

Annabeth chuckled, and I was happy that the tension was over. "Percy noticing? You're probably more than just obvious."

I heard myself chuckle, and I did feel a little better now. "What would you do if you're in my position?"

"I don't know." She replied, then her eyebrows scrunched. She hated it when she's clueless. "But maybe you'll remember it anyway…if it's really for you."

I met her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"If Apollo's telling the truth, and the Fates are working on your life now, then maybe you'll have to wait until they're done."

"You mean I'll just sit and wait?" I asked. "I've got ADHD, too, you know."

She chuckled. "No! What I mean is that if the prophesy's really that important in your life, then the Fates will have to do something to make you remember. Besides…" She added. "They put you on this. I doubt they will have to let you go any sooner."

I rolled my eyes. "Such relief."

"Thalia! You'll be alright!" She giggled, pulling me in a tight and resting her head on my shoulder in that very familiar little sister kind of way. She used to do that so often back then… "You surpassed the Great Prophesy, remember?"

"I cheated Fate by _surpassing_that Great Prophesy."

She straightened up. "That's different." She said, but I was pretty sure she was analyzing it. After a moment she shrugged. "Forget it. It won't do you any good thinking about that dream."

"Yeah." I muttered. "Nico said I looked like those souls in Asphodel—trying to remember. And I don't think I can rock out that look."

Annabeth laughed for real. "No. No, you can't." Then she added, "Nico knows?"

I paused, suddenly feeling self-conscious for no particular reason at all. _At__all_.

I shook my head and said, "I don't think so…But, Annabeth, thanks." I smiled, feeling the weight of the world in my shoulders kind of lessened. "I miss talking to you."

"I miss this, too." She smiled. "Next time your sisters become painful brats, call me."

I shrugged. "I wouldn't want a next time. But maybe you could spank them or something."

This time we both laughed. I hugged her real quick and got up to my feet, feeling all brand new. "I think I should go check them out by now."

Annabeth stood up. "You're pushing yourself too hard."

I met her eyes, and smiled. She knew so well that as a daughter of the king of the gods, "pushing yourself too hard" would be the easiest thing on the list. I shrugged. "That's my life." I grinned, and said goodbye for now.

I knew Annabeth wanted to know more; I was pretty sure she sensed more than what I told her, though that was complete in detail, I didn't tell her what I thought about those things…especially about the 'choosing' part. I had a bad hunch that it had something to do with my future…which, by the way, I couldn't imagine. For some reason, even with the years I spent with the hunt, I was certain that seeing my friends grow old while I watch their children grow old, too, was a future I couldn't imagine myself being in.

But as far as I could remember, I hadn't been thinking about doing something about it…

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><p>Travis and Connor stared at me like I was the weirdest specimen they've ever seen—aside from Percy, of course.<p>

"Wh-what did you just say?"

I regarded Travis and answered. "I said I'm here to apologize."

The Stoll brothers stared at each other, as though debating whether I was in my right mind, or if they could fit in some consequences for me to do. The latter…well, screw them.

I took a deep breath. "As the First lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis, I take full responsibility of what my—of what my sisters had done." There was a loud thunder far away in the sky, and I wasn't sure if I should get worried or happy if my father was listening.

"B-but—" Travis gulped. "You…didn't actually do anything."

"Y-yeah." Connor shifted uncomfortably. "We weren't…well, we weren't exactly hating you. Or something."

If not because of my own uneasiness, and the constriction in my throat because of the repulsiveness of what I was doing, then I would've laughed at their faces. "They screwed up by messing up your things." I said. "I screwed up as their leader."

"So you're just gonna…" Travis mumbled. "Fix it? Just like that?"

I blinked. "Yeah...Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what I'm doing."

There was a momentary silence as the wind blew, and I watched the two guys do their staring matched. I was starting to get a feeling that the Stolls had some telepathic powers or something, when they suddenly turned to me.

Connor spoke up. "We…don't know what to say, actually."

"Y-yeah." Travis muttered. "We would've wanted you to do some consequences in return—" I raised an eyebrow at him, and he flushed. "—yeah, but, maybe not." He glanced at his brother.

"Uhm, S-so, we thought we'll just accept your apology." Connor continued almost too quickly. Then he sighed. "We did the shoe-sabotage as revenge, anyway. I think it's even."

I sighed in relief, and I felt myself smiling. This was an utter slap to my pride, as a person, as a daughter of Zeus…as the lieutenant of the Hunt. And doing some…consequences would equate disaster. I didn't think I could handle as much. Not that I'd agree to any of it, but still. I ws just glad the hardest part was over.

"Yeah." I said. "Oh, about that shoe-sabotage thing." I think I saw them stiffen a bit, but I bypassed it and asked, "It seemed to me like, my shoes were...spared?"

"Oh, that." Travis grinned. "You were with Nico di Angelo that time. He's just too scary we couldn't afford to risk our souls."

"Oh."

Connor nodded grimly.

"Oh, okay. So…I guess the scoreboard's back to zero." I held out my hand and Connor and Travis stared at it. I swear their faces looked like ripe tomatoes. I smirked. "We're supposed to shake hands."

"Oh.", they muttered _almost_ at the same time, and immediately reached for my hand—this time, at the same time.

I chuckled. Oh, why do I love making people feel uncomfortable?

I shook Travis' hand first then Connor's and I turned to go. "Oh, right." I muttered, and half-turned to face them again. "In the next Capture the Flag, we'll kick your butts."

With that, I walked away. I heard another thunder from afar, but I didn't stop to look up.

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><p>AN: There! What do you think? That's the end of the first test for Thalia... hmmn, I wonder what's next.

PLEASE REVIEW! let me know what you think! :]


	7. Chapter 6

**The Miss**

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><p>AN: Heyyyy! I'm back! haha. Sorry for the really long delay, but here's chapter6! :D By the way, I'd like to thank everyone who took time to read the previous chapters, and especially those who reviewed and added this story to their alerts list. I really, really, do appreciate it, people!

Eleven (11) reviews for five chapters? It's not that bad, I guess. Besides, there's nothing much going on in the story yet. I just wish you'd still continue to read, though. It'd really be great. haha!

So here it is. Please do review! Tell what you think about it! :D

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><p>Chapter 6: <strong>ENCOUNTER WITH THE COLORS<strong>

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><p><em><strong>Thalia<strong>_

It was a fair day in Camp Half-blood. Young demigods racing with the dryads; Percy dodging the lava from the Climbing Wall for the nth time; Jason dueling Annabeth; the Hunters ruining the day… Well, actually, I just opted to add the last part; it wasn't that difficult to accept the truth. Not that I'm all against my sisters trying to "enjoy" hating the species of men; it's just that, even after that Capture the Flag incident, the others just seemed to take it more of a challenge more than anything else. And who said immortality can give you wisdom? I didn't feel any; nor did I see much.

I was pretty disappointed, actually. But it was as if I was against the whole Hunters population! Well, Phoebe's been particularly _nice_ when she spared Percy the glare while I was talking to him; and though she refused to talk about the previous incidents, she had been doing her job of "watching over them" pretty well than the last time she volunteered for it. The others tried their best to behave; but most of them would end up harvesting trouble at the end of the day; and me giving the lecture before dinner, and all of us starting all over again.

All in all, it was one heck of a week. Staying in Camp Half-blood just makes my hating sisters go red alert—and it's not helping. I practically wished Lady Artemis would take us away soon. It was pretty surprising that a week had passed and there was not a single message from our Lady. Like, she was busy or something…or as though she intentionally forgot. On the brighter side, I was still able to enjoy myself, despite all. I was able to catch up with Annabeth, talk to Jason a lot, duel with Percy—which, by the way, seemed like a sold-out concert—and do the little things that I never really had the chance to do (since I became a tree, thanks dad!).

This day wasn't any special. But when Chiron talked to me at breakfast, I started to think this was going to be more—I mean _a __lot__—_more painful.

"Please tell me you didn't just say that, Chiron." I muttered, almost forgetting to be respectful.

The ancient centaur smiled at me. "I believe I just did, Thalia."

"B-but—" I stammered, then caught myself when I noticed people staring. "Why? Are you sick, or something?"

At this, Chiron belted out a really loud, ancient, laugh. And we've earned ourselves more audience. Way to go. "No." He replied. "I just thought it would be a great chance for the Hunters to really…immerse with the campers. And vice versa, of course."

"So that includes…" I raised an eyebrow. "Teaching archery?"

"Mmn—hmmn." He nodded.

I was about to open my mouth to say something when Chiron stood up on his four legs and called everyone's attention to tell the good news. For a moment there was silence, the next thing I knew, there was hot sauce on my face. Even with the loud thunder up in the clouds, the battle cries of the food fight echoed in the pavilion. I sighed; and I somehow got the idea how this day would turn out like.

The fight didn't last long though; Percy had to throw in a really big splash of sea water to calm everyone down. And to my surprise, I only got fries on my hair. They're starting to get pretty civilized, thank gods.

* * *

><p>"Hello."<p>

I blinked.

"You remember me!"

I stared at the boy with the dark, curly, hair pointing his finger at my face; that really annoying—but I have to admit, contagious—grin on his face. "You are?"

As though switched off by some, well, switch, his face genuinely turned down. "It's me!" He said. "Leo Valdez? We met at a cave?"

As though it was _that_normal to meet a guy in a cave, I recalled the many times I've been to one. Apparently, most of them involved hunting down hellhounds. I zeroed on this boy for a second, and decided that he could pass well as Cerberus' toy bone, but not as a hellhound. Then I remembered the one encounter that changed my life forever.

"You." I muttered, pointing a finger at him. "You were at the cave."

He grinned. "Exactly! I was with Jason and Piper!"

I blinked. I was heading to the arena for archery lessons when this guy popped in front of me. Under normal circumstances I would've just blasted him off into pieces. But I was feeling particularly not up to anything this morning, so I spared him the electrifying experience. "Okay." I mumbled and sidestepped to go away.

"Nice to meet you!" He said, blocking me and holding out his big, calloused, hand. I stared at it, and looked up to his face. "Uh, again. Nice to meet you again." I raised an eyebrow, and it hit him in a flash. "Oh. Oh, right. No touching. So, uhm…I'm Leo."

I rolled my eyes and started walking to the arena. To my surprise, he trailed behind me. In a few strides, he was at my pace. I hate tall guys. They make me feel inferior. And slow.

"What do you want?"

He stopped, and then immediately recovered. "Oh. I'm here to apply for a job."

"Go away."

"—no, actually, to be your assistant, or something."

I stopped walking and glared at him. "We only accept girls in the Hunt, so—"

He shook his hands in front of him. "H-hey, take it easy. I-I'm straight." I bit my gum, stifling a smirk, and watched him flush before recovering again. "I-I'm here to, uh, suggest something."

I raised an eyebrow.

"W-well, you know." He muttered, and fumbled for something from the tool bag around his waist. "Since you Hunters are teaching archery…"

My heart thudded, but I waited for him to raise the black, metallic, thingy from his bag. "I could help you."

"We don't need help in archery."

For some reason, he chuckled. "No, you don't. Nah-uh." He grinned. "But _this_ could help you make it seem fun! Maybe encourage others or something?"

"Why would I care about encouraging others?"

"Hmmn, well, let me think..." He paused, but then after a moment he waved it off with a hand. "Uh, here."

Leo Valdez grinned and pressed a couple of buttons in the metallic box thing before putting it on the ground. He stepped back, and almost dared to pull me back. I stepped away and instinctively kept distance as the box grew into a massive, metal…thingy.

I watched it transform itself, clicking and snapping all over the place like it was really designed to know where to plant itself. After a couple of minutes, I was staring at the most wonderful archery equipment I've ever seen. From the corner of my eyes, I thought I saw the boy smirk in pride, but I was still gaping—which, I prayed, didn't make me look any stupid—at the twenty foot long target course, and my eyes refused to believe it had just come out of that small, metal box.

"So…" he muttered, checking my expression for the nth time. "Why don't you try it?"

I stood there, thinking, and only half conscious of the smirk playing on my lips. After a moment, Leo grinned at me. "So when do we start?"

* * *

><p>The cold wind breeze blew against my face, and even with the high sun, it didn't feel that hot. It was such a perfect day, it seemed to me; which, at the back of my head, had me kind of wondering if it's even possible. I just wished it wouldn't get ruined in any way.<p>

Glancing at my watch, it was time for archery lessons. I told that Hephaestus kid yesterday to prepare his equipment before everyone else arrives—granting '_everyone'_ would even want to be taught by the Hunters of Artemis—or I'd kick his butt. He didn't seem to mind though; and I wondered what he could get from doing this. I wouldn't; if I were him. From a typical camper's point of view, the way I see how they see things, you don't do favors for the Hunters. That's like, the norm, or something; but yesterday, he'd just defied that. He practically offered his services!

I turned for the shortcut to the arena, where archery lessons would be. This area was unpaved and ancient tree arching over the path. I knew that this path was least used, so I didn't worry about random demigods passing by. But then when I ducked under the arching tree, a big, black, figure suddenly jumped from the arching tree, just in time trampling me over as I ducked. My legs got tangled, and I ungracefully fell down, and apparently, bringing that black figure down, too. Things happened fast; and looking back, I could've committed homicide.

As fast as I got taken aback, I was able to get up and draw my sword in defense; but as much as the adrenaline pulsed so quickly, it got drained out when I realized it wasn't some monster I happened to stumble upon.

"Hey!"

I blinked, lowered my weapon, and yelled. "What the hell were you thinking?"

The son of Hades stared at me. And instinctively, his eyebrows scrunched into an annoyed frown. "I was just getting off the tree!" He yelled back, obviously not liking others yelling at his face. "You were—hey, what's that sword for?"

"I could've killed you, you idiot!"

He scoffed, and, yes, I felt the urge to kill him anyway, but he rolled his eyes and got up. I rolled my eyes, too, and looked away. I thought he muttered under his breath something about not noticing, but when I looked back, he was already shrugging off the dirt from his black jeans and shirt.

Taking a deep breath, I felt my heartbeat slowing down as I tried to relax and kept my weapon away. I stared at him for a moment, and noticed how big he had grown that I had mistaken him for some hellhound or something… Well, maybe not; maybe it's just his clothes being black all over. "You were supposed to see me coming, you know that?"

"Well, then, I'm sorry." He muttered, not really sounding so sorry. "I just shadow-traveled from my cabin."

I raised an eyebrow. "What, you can't walk?"

"Shut up." He sneered at me as he patted off the dust from his pants. Then he zeroed on at me, paused at my face, and then smirked. "You're supposed to look presentable when you teach archery."

I looked down and cursed under my breath, shrugging off the dust from my clothes. "Of all the places in Camp Half-blood, you chose to shadow-travel here. How lucky am I?" I asked, picking off the small leaves that stuck on my jacket.

"What, you think I'm a leprechaun? I just don't pop in and out in random places like, there on the populated ground." He replied, and made it sound like the most obvious thing in the world. "Drew had me smelling like strawberries for like, a week, when I accidentally shadow-travelled in front of her in the middle of their gossiping." Then he made a face. "Apparently, they were talking about me." I smirked, and he turned to look at me. "Now, how lucky _am I_?"

I shrugged, suddenly feeling amused. "So you shadow-travel to quiet, eerie, empty, places like this little shortcut here." I said, casually looking around at the muddy ground, and the thick, damp, mosses sticking on the arched tree. "Nice taste."

He simply smirked. Then he half-turned toward the path, and we started walking. I had no idea what I was doing. I wasn't supposed to chat, nor was I supposed to walk with a boy; especially if that boy's the one who had just trampled over me from jumping off a tree. But then for some reason it didn't seem to matter. Unlike the other guys I encountered when I became a Hunter, Nico di Angelo didn't seem to care who I was, or if I hated his specie-or if I should hate his specie, for that matter. Though I really had no idea what he really thought, and knowing how painful was the Hunt's presence to him, it still seemed to me like he wasn't just going to take a side. Just like Percy. And Chiron. And Jason…And just like them, I was surprised when I realized that Nico di Angelo felt like some long, lost, friend. Like, talking to him wouldn't be big deal...even if I'm with the Hunt. Talking to him surprisingly felt…comfortable.

"So you're heading to archery." He said.

"'have to." I replied. "You, too?"

"No." He muttered in reply, and for some reason that reply didn't sound so good. "But I'm going to the arena, though. Leo asked for help."

I raised an eyebrow, but he just waved off my unspoken question. So I nodded. It was quiet for a moment as we walked, and I sighed. "Sorry about yelling at your face." I said. "I could've just slashed on you without all the yelling, right?"

He rolled his eyes, but he smirked and nodded. I narrowed my eyes at him, and he face-palmed. "What is it, Death boy?"

Glancing at me, Nico di Angelo did that seeing-right-through-your-soul again. "Nothing." He said nonchalantly. "I was just gonna say that you seem to be apologizing a lot these days."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Seriously. The Stolls can't keep a secret for an hour."

I felt blood rush up to my face, and felt the urge to explode and bring about chaos and destruction to Cabin11. "I'm going to skew those—" I bit my gum and balled my fists. Cursing under my breath, I looked away and kept to myself the string of words running in my mind. "Nevermind."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"I'm not embarrassed."

"Yes, you are." He countered. "I can smell your pride oozing with that steam from your nose, daughter of Zeus."

I glared at him, and there was a loud thunder up in the clouds.

"Geez. I'm just saying." He mumbled. "But seriously, what you did was…brave."

"It was humiliating."

"And humiliating."

I looked at him, and he stared back. I wondered if this was his way of trying to make me feel better; or maybe simply trying to have a small talk; but either way, talking seemed to spew the toxic thoughts I'd been keeping for myself for days. I sighed and looked straight ahead. "What do you want to say?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw him shrug. "I just thought you were kind of torn between two things." My heart skipped a beat, and I looked at him. "Maybe for being one of us, and one with the Hunt. Like, you're supposed to choose which side you're really supposed to be."

I had no idea where he got that, and I was pretty sure nobody else knew about my dreams aside from Annabeth. But I would swear my life Annabeth didn't tell anybody about those things. So how on earth… I gulped back the questions itching on my tongue, and it suddenly dawned into me how precise he had just been. It was like he had just summarized my troubles. And he narrowed it down to a 'choice'…

I gaped at him. "Why are you telling me this?"

Nico di Angelo met my eyes and paused there, as though searching or simply trying to intimidate me with his height. Then he shrugged. "Honestly, I'm not sure..." He replied. "I just thought you should know."

Yet again another doing of the Fates—toying with the people around me and using them as instruments… I glared at my shoes, thinking about the dreams and the missing prophesy.

I was about to open my mouth to say something when the unpaved path opened up to a familiar clearing. After a few more strides, the opening led us to the back of the arena. I didn't get the chance to speak my mind; for as soon as we reached the arena, we heard the familiar sound of metal.

"Yo!" Leo waved his wrench above his head as soon as he spotted us; which wasn't very good, I figured, 'cause it made everyone look at our direction.

There had been more than twenty campers who stood nearby, probably waiting for the lessons to start; worst of all, roughly the same numbers were my sisters, and their suspicious eyes didn't make me feel any better as we walked towards them. As if to make me feel a lot more comfortable, I saw Percy smirking at me, Annabeth beside him under the shade of the tree. Jason was there, too, and yeah, it made me feel worse.

"Don't think about it."

I glanced at the son of Hades, and felt the pang of envy when I saw him stare at the waiting demigods nonchalantly. "What're you talking about, Death boy?"

"You're too worried about what people might think about you." He replied, his expression hard and mysterious.

"No, I'm not."

From the corner of my eyes, I thought I saw him glance at me and shrug. "Have it your way."

I ignored his comment, and immediately walked towards my Phoebe. She was watching me indifferently, her eyes moving from me to Nico, and then back to me again. I pretended I didn't notice that, and prayed I didn't look guilty or something. Not that there's _anything_ I should feel guilty about…

"Hey." I greeted them, and patted little Maria's head as she held my hand. "What's with the frown, girls?"

"I thought we were just going to teach archery?" Claire stepped up beside Phoebe, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Uh-huh." I nodded. "That's what we're going to do."

"But why is that…_boy_, trying to interfere and do his thing?"

I followed her line of sight, and I sighed. "Oh, _that_ boy offered his invention." I replied, watching Leo talk to Nico. There was a sudden shiver that ran down my spine, and for some reason, scenes from my dream flashed in my mind, Apollo's voice echoing in my ears, _'__How__'__s __the __choosing __going __on,__Thalia __Grace? __Would __it __be __the __red, __or __would __it __be __the __green?__'_

I froze.

"Thal?"

I blinked, my eyes locked on those two. I had no idea what was going on, or what the voice meant with what he'd just said; hell, I wasn't even sure if I was just hallucinating! The next thing I knew, Phoebe was shaking me. "Hey, Thalia? Are you alright?"

"I-I, uh, yeah." I muttered and looked back to Phoebe, shrugging off the disturbing thoughts. "I was just thinking, we should do one-on-one training." Upon hearing that, there was a sudden fuss from them. "This is Chiron's bidding, alright? It's the best way. Just…trust me, okay?"

Phoebe stared at me like I was insane; but I was pretty sure she noticed my sudden 'blackout'. Thankfully, though, she turned to our sisters and convinced them. After a few minutes of deliberation, they all agreed with my plan…or _forced_ to agree, that is.

I looked over my shoulder and saw the training equipment neatly shaped in a neat semicircle, lining half of the circumference of the arena. There were around twenty target equipment, all in series with each other in terms of mechanical design so that when one target moved swayed to the left, the others went the opposite way. It wasn't like the typical archery target; they were moving, rotating, and doing all kinds of distraction just to keep the archer from hitting the it. Leo grinned at me and raised a thumbs-up.

I walked towards them, my sisters trailing behind me. Annabeth met me halfway and hooked her arm around mine. I watched the bored faces of the campers, and I sighed. "You think this is going to work?"

Annabeth nudged me gently and smiled. "Come on. You're the daughter of Zeus. You can pull this off." She said. "Percy and I will back you up." I smiled, and was about to reply when she added, "Besides, Nico will be around. Nothing big will happen."

I raised an eyebrow at that, but I didn't get the chance to ask. We reached the head engineer and he conducted a mock salute at me. "All ready, ma'am." He grinned, and Annabeth chuckled. I didn't.

Percy gathered the others around, and the Hunters instinctively moved behind me, an obvious path in between us and the campers. Annabeth stood beside me though, and I was thankful I wans't going to do this alone.

"So, uh, hi." I said. "This morning's lessons will be quite different, as you can see. Leo Valdez here volunteered his invention, and he's going to explain the dynamics later. Oh, by the way, we're going to do the training in pairs."

A lot of the campers high-fived with their friends, a slight fuss and howling grew in the crowd. "Uhm, actually, you'll all be paired with the Hunters."

There was a momentary silence, but the following minute was chaos. I groaned inwardly, turning my back on them and cursing under my breath. Annabeth took over the protests, Percy backing her up, and I hated how I felt so unconvincing, ineffective, and most of all, not trusted.

"But they're girls!" Sherman yelled from the back of the crowd.

I stepped up again, and was about to say something when Phoebe beat me to the punch. "Then why don't you try beating me, if you think you're better than us?"

There was a huge howling upon hearing the dangerous challenge, but Sherman only rolled his eyes. "Archery is for wimps!" He said. "A true warrior fights his opponent up-close."

A few years ago, I would've agreed with him; I personally preferred close-combat. But now, nothing about me would do. I'm a Hunter of Artemis, and things are different now. "Sucks for a son of the war god not to master long-range combat." I said. "I think it's pretty easy. Wimps can do it, can't they?"

They all stared at me, and I swear Sherman's nose flared with steam. "Fine!" He snapped. "But I won't be taught by some—some girls! Especially by that _second_-lieutenant."

I stiffened, not really liking how he'd emphasized the word 'second'. Not that it hit me first-handedly, it was obviously for Phoebe; but for some reason, my rank suddenly didn't feel good. Percy started to say something, but to my surprise, a voice cut the noise like knife to butter.

"If I didn't know better, Sherman, I'd think you feel threatened that Pheobe's better than you." All eyes turned to Nico di Angelo, who had been quiet for the whole duration of the yelling and cussing. "I would actually believe you like her; and you just don't want anyone to know that _you_ _suck_."

Sherman's face turned beet red, and drawing his spear, he took a deadly step forward. But then Clarisse held him back, surprisingly being able to actually hurl him behind her. "Enough, brother." She said, and I wondered where she had been when the Capture the Flag incident happened. "Thalia Grace's in-charge. You can leave now if you don't want to be commanded around by _girls_."

Sherman looked so much like how a raging bull might look like if mama bull's scolding him. He stared at Clarisse, to the other demigods present, to me, and back to Clarisse. After a moment, he yelled, "Fine!" and he pointed his spear at us threateningly. "I'll participate, alright. I'll show you _girls_ how a son of Ares can be good at anything."

"Fine, fine, whatever." I rolled my eyes and clapped my hands for order. "Shut up and everyone listen to me now or I'll zap you all." There was immediate silence and Clarisse' brothers had to stuff Sherman's mouth to keep him from yelling.

I smirked. "We shall begin."

* * *

><p>AN: There! What do you think? Was Sherman too much of a chaos? lol. Pls tell me if characters are starting to be OOC, I don't want them in any way getting far from Rick Riordan's characters. T_T

pls review! tell me what you think,okay? :D

see you in the next chapter!


	8. Chapter 7

**The Miss**

* * *

><p>AN: Heya, there! So here's chapter7, and uhm, I'm not sure why, but I just kind of tried to write a chapter for one of the most important characters in this whole story so...let me know if it's gone quite awkward or raw or something. lol.

So...here it is, then! R&R.! :D

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: <strong>DON'T CONFUSE IT WITH FEAR<strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thalia<strong>_

Swoosh.

I raised an eyebrow. "You're good."

Jason stared at the bull's eye he'd almost hit, and then shrugged. "We have archery lessons at Camp Jupiter."

I rolled my eyes. "Now try hitting the bull's eye; and tell me you have archery lessons at Camp Jupiter."

He smirked, and notched another arrow. "You seem to look better now, sis."

I paused. "What do you mean?"

"You know, last week?" He said, lowering the bow and turning to me. "When you had the dreams?"

I conducted a really quick mental scan and checked the facts I might have shared to my brother. I didn't tell him anything yet, so he probably meant it in the general sense. "I guess I'm fine now." I replied, trying to stay out of the topic and at the same time doing my best not to attract him to it with my evasiveness.

Thankfully, though, my brother simply nodded. He lifted the bow again to his chest level. "So…" He muttered as he aimed. "You and Nico arrived at the same time…?"

I put a lock of hair behind my ear, and I stared at the moving target. "I—well, he kind of trampled over me at the shortcut." I replied.

From the corner of my eyes I saw him pause and stare at me for elaboration. I shrugged. "Oh, he shadow-traveled to that shortcut, from his cabin." I replied. "He jumped off the tree…trampling over me as I passed; an ugly coincidence. Why ask?"

He narrowed his eyes, but I was pretty sure it wasn't because he was aiming. "Nothing." He mumbled, and fired.

The arrow missed the target for about a few angles as it swayed to the left. Jason cursed under his breath and I chuckled. He raised an eyebrow as I grinned, and I face-palmed. "What?"

He shook his head and notched another arrow. "Nico." He suddenly said; his eyes on the target as he talked. "He's kind of…"

"Scary?"

Jason stared at me for a moment like, 'We're children of Zeus, and you think he's scary?'… But then maybe not; maybe my brain simply made that up.

I looked over my shoulder and saw the son of Hades watching by the shade of the tree, his expression blank. I shrugged. "Is it just me, or…everyone seems to be kind of…anxious when he's around."

My brother looked back to the target. "More like he's the one who's edgy when he's surrounded by people." I stared at Jason. "Like, he's here; but doesn't want to. Percy said Nico feels like he doesn't belong here…"

I thought about being with the Hunt. It was my choice to be a Hunter of Artemis; I agreed to it to save Olympus… or to excuse myself from the Great Prophesy, that is. Immortality… Of course it's exciting, but thinking about it, it means that I won't even get to learn how to drive a car; no dreams for the future; nothing but eternal youth and forsaking the company of men… Did I really belong with them?

There was a sudden cramp in my chest as I thought about that, and I instinctively pushed the thoughts away. Then an arrow hit the target, a couple of inches from the bull's eye.

Jason shook me by shoulders in frustration, and it was more than enough to divert my thoughts away. I laughed when he did, and he notched another arrow excitedly. I watched him do so, and he glanced at me. "What're you thinking about?"

I blinked, and without thinking about it, I answered, "Annabeth said a while ago that nothing big will happen…because Nico's here."

"Everyone gets tensed when he's around." He answered, firing again and missing. He sighed and lowered his bow. "So nothing bad actually happens."

I raised an eyebrow. "Like, everyone's too scared to do it?"

He nodded. "So when important gatherings happen that require, uh, being _civil_, he sticks around to help."

"That's terrible."

"It's such an effective exercise of power." Jason countered. "But, well, yeah; being respected only out of fear…it's terrible."

"But we're friends." My brother's eyes bored down on me as he stared, and I mentally zapped myself for blurting out things like that. "I mean, with Percy and Annabeth. You guys are friends. He's not…absolutely alone."

Jason simply shrugged, looking past my shoulder to the son of Hades brooding by the tree. I followed his line of sight and felt kind of bad for not really minding him. I mean, sure, he's like, my virtual cousin or something. Bianca's my friend. Percy, Annabeth and I actually rescued him and his sister, and escorted them to Camp Half-blood. Yes, we both shared a quest—which, I'm not supposed to say something about or the River Styx would eat me—but were there anything else? For some reason, looking back, I didn't seem to be like a friend to him like I thought I was.

* * *

><p>"Go away."<p>

I crossed my arms over my chest and exhaled loudly. "Not until you get up and pick up the bow, Death boy."

"I'm exempted."

"Who told you you're exempted?"

His dark brown eyes looked up to meet mine; and under the bright daylight, they looked so deep and almost black with something else other than the nonchalance that I could read from them. "Go away, Thalia Grace."

I raised an eyebrow. Nobody has ever shoo-ed me away just like that. "Fine. But this is a close-door practice, di Angelo. You're not allowed to sit around and watch."

"We're outdoors."

"I—well." I bit my gum, keeping the curses from getting out of my mouth. "You know what I mean." I sneered at him. "Now you can go, if you don't wish to participate and get commanded around by some _girls_."

For some reason he smirked, but didn't say anything. He looked away from me and propped his chin on his palm as he continued to stare at the training instead. I stared at him for a moment, and tried to ignore the feeling that my sisters were kind of noticing now. But then I wasn't about to care; Nico's a friend. I never cared if they hated it whenever I talked to Percy, or Jason; and I decided it's going to be the same with this guy.

"Shouldn't you be with your brother?"

"Oh, he's out." I said, careful not to say more than that. He'd probably cast out chaotic death if he'd found out that this was Jason's idea. "Get up, you idiot." I tried again.

"'Not interested."

"Pfsh." I waved off a hand at him and he looked at me from the corner of his eyes. "You're just like Sherman, you know that? All talk."

"I don't have anything to prove." He replied calmly.

"Of course, you do." I countered. "You're the son of Hades."

He faced me again. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I have to admit, his glare was exceptional. "Nothing much." I said nonchalantly. "But you perfectly know every demigod has to prove himself, one way or another."

"Scram."

"Why don't you want to join?" I blurted out. "It's…kind of fun."

"It's not." He snapped. "And I never really _join_ in activities."

I paused. "As in…they don't let you join?"

"Go away."

"Chiron's gonna kill me."

For some reason, his eyes softened a bit to a playful and mocking stare, like, 'Chiron would rather kill me instead so you can get over it.'.

I sighed irritably. "You're such a wimp, Nico di Angelo. How about trying to make your sister proud?"

He stared at me, his eyes suddenly got sharper. Under his stare, a strange shiver ran down my spine; a small dose of weird electricity-like sensation flowed down to my fingertips; and I didn't like it. Suddenly, it was gone when he looked away. I knew so well I'd hit a nerve; and I kind of felt guilty for saying that. But it just came out! I didn't really mean it… But then just when I was about to do my nth apology of the month, he suddenly got up to his feet and smashed his hands on his pockets as he faced me.

"Fine." He muttered. "Impress me with your teaching skills."

"I told you to straighten your back." I snapped irritably, poking his back with an arrow that he immediately stood up straight.

"Hey, careful with that!"

I rolled my eyes and stood beside him again as he aimed. "Now hit the target."

Nico di Angelo made a face and stared at the swaying target. "Are you serious?"

"Wimp."

"Tryant."

"Grandpa."

"Tree."

I raised an eyebrow, and he pulled the bow string across his chest as he aimed. I waited, and to my greatest surprise, he stopped again and lowered his bow for the nth time. "How about you do it first?"

I glared at him for two reasons. One was that he had obviously been trying to be such a pain since he agreed to join the training. Two was that shooting an arrow, around this many campers and Hunters, suddenly felt quite…frightening. What if all the weirdness crash down on me and I would miss the target _again_?

"So?" He prodded smugly and I looked up to the taller and really annoying demigod who was holding out the bow. He smirked. "I learn fast when I see it."

"Fine." I mumbled, taking the bow. I notched an arrow and positioned myself. I felt the familiar surge within me, and I remembered that incident in the forest. My heart thudded in my ears, and I tried pushing off the disturbing thoughts. Letting out a quiet sigh, I prayed to Artemis I wouldn't mess up—for the Hunt's honor, if not mine.

I closed my eyes, and fired.

When I opened them, Nico di Angelo's eyebrows were raised. I looked at the target, and saw it swaying in all angles; the arrow pinned perfectly on the middle. I smiled, feeling so relieved I could jump for joy right there and then. But then I didn't, of course.

"So?" I handed him the bow. "Beat that, Death boy."

He narrowed his eyes at me, and I smirked as he grabbed the bow from my hands rather too roughly. "Fine." He said.

I heard myself snicker, and from the corner of my eyes I thought I saw him glance at me before notching an arrow; but then maybe not…

I watched him position himself, aim, and fire. And miss. He didn't even bother look at me as he notched another arrow, aim, and fire. But then again he missed the target by a wonderful two degrees. He cursed beautifully, and I laughed for real.

"You can shut up, you know."

"I'm enjoying myself!"

"Just wait Pinecone face." He muttered as he aimed. "I'll hit that bull's eye."

"Good luck with that, Death boy."

Again, Nico di Angelo fired. And I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing. The arrow flew past the target, hitting the bleacher instead.

"Loosen up." I chuckled as he notched another arrow. "You're pushing it." He fired, and missed again. I sighed and shook my head. "You're hopeless, you know."

He aimed, and paused to stare at the target. "Jason told you to do this, didn't he?"

I stiffened, and looked away from his probing eyes. "What're you talking about?"

He fired, and almost hit it. But well, he still didn't so…

"I don't see why the first lieutenant of Artemis would just come up with the idea of letting the son of Hades join in."

"I don't see anything wrong about it."

He picked up another arrow, but this time he didn't notch it right away.

"At Capture the Flag…" I prodded, the laughing and bantering suddenly put aside as thoughts started to make sense. "What was your part of the plan?"

For the first time since he agreed to join the training, his dark brown eyes bored down on me as he stared. But then after a moment, he looked away to notch the arrow and aim. "I wasn't part of any plan." He muttered and fired. I felt my eyebrows scrunch together, and when he missed the target he looked back to me. "I wasn't part of any team."

I opened my mouth to say something, but then closed it again. I thought about how he immediately knew there was trouble between my sisters and the campers; how he was able to transport us instantly to where the commotions was; how he simply didn't act like the others; how…neutral he had been.

"You…" I muttered, pointing the arrow at him absentmindedly.

Nico frowned at the arrow, and he gently pushed it aside. Sighing, he seemed to finally decide to talk. "It's easier to say that they don't want me around."

"But—Percy and Annabeth? Chiron? Grover? Sure they—"

"Yes, they do." He cut me in, knowing exactly what I was thinking. "But even when there are people wanting you, you just don't stick around a place knowing it's infested with people feeling exactly the opposite. It's just—just not healthy."

"That's…stupid."

For some reason, his mouth curved up to a smirk, and he notched another arrow. "Sucks for me." He muttered and fired, only to miss the target again.

"So…" I muttered, staring at the swaying target. "…you just sit around and watch?"

"Sometimes I play with their shadows, make them do anything I want…"

I raised an eyebrow, and his smirk seemed to widen a bit—just a bit. "You're an idiot, you know that?"

Nico shrugged, and picking up another arrow, he muttered, "You might want to check yourself, Thalia Grace. I'm not the one you'd want to play around with."

"Oh, so you're the son of Hades and that makes you the toughest one."

He grimaced at the target. "I'm not saying that."

There was a weird pause as we both stared at the swaying of the black and white circle ten feet from us. I thought about the adrenaline of Capture the Flag; the energy boost flowing down your veins whenever the game starts; the surge of power and excitement when things go your way, or the annoying frustration when they don't. Nico di Angelo never had that. And looking back, I remembered the scrawny and annoying demigod he had once been. That boy's gone.

"But I don't care." His voice cut in my thoughts. I looked at him as he held up the arrow. "I can go anywhere I want anytime."

"Then why do you stick around, idiot?" He paused, and then glared at me before looking away. "What? You just said you don't like being in a place filled with haters. Then why are you here, Mr. Lonely?"

Nico raised an eyebrow, but he was staring at the tip of his arrow. "I don't know."

I watched him get lost in thoughts for a few moments, his eyes having that faraway look as he examined the arrow. "Annabeth said you're handy with trouble-control?" I muttered nonchalantly, crossing my arms over my chest. "I honestly don't see why they…respect you that much. Even Sherman's—"

Suddenly, someone chuckled; and when I looked, I could barely believe it was him. Then as swift as that, his eyes got that far-away look again. "Don't confuse it with fear. Respect…well, it's barely there."

There was a heavy pause, and he continued to examine the innocent arrow he had been holding for minutes now; and for some reason, I found myself staring at it, too. Being _emo_ is so contagious!

"But like I said, I don't care." He said. "What they think doesn't matter."

"So you don't care if Sherman thinks you suck at archery, too?"

He turned to me and glared. I bit my gum, but then I lost it. "Shut up, Thalia." He muttered and turned back to the target. He finally notched the arrow and aimed, obviously trying to shut his ears from my really encouraging laughing fit. So as though totally encouraged, the son of Hades fired.

And what do you know? He missed.

"Relax!" I managed to say in between chuckles, and his glare didn't waver when he turned to me. "Archery isn't like fighting with swords, where you put so much force to the weapon so it could hurt the enemy."

Picking up an arrow, I gave it to him. When he simply stared at it, I rolled my eyes and grabbed his hand. I positioned his arms on the level of his chest, the bow outstretched across it. He was staring at me now, and I balanced his right arm with the other, poked an arrow at his back so he would stand straighter.

"Feel the arrow like it's one with your arm; and imagine having that feeling channel down to the bow as it guides the arrow when you aim." I paused as he stared. "Oh, and stop staring; try to look at the target instead."

His pale face turned a shade darker, and I tried not to notice. I watched him aim at the moving target, and before I knew it, he fired.

There was a low thud against the wood, and the arrow's tail shook vigorously upon getting pinned down at the middle of the target.

I smiled.

"D-did you see that?"

The look in Nico di Angelo's face was priceless. He practically held me by the shoulder and made me look at the target again, and I found myself wonder at his excitement and awe. Apparently, he was able to keep himself from jumping up and down in joy; but he was obviously overjoyed now, and his lips were up in a curve everybody rarely sees. It was pretty ironic, too, because though he was still trying to act normal, his usually mysterious eyes showed all his childish joy and wonder.

"Yeah, yeah." I said and smugly patted him on his back real hard. I thought I saw him stiffen a bit, but then I wasn't sure. "Try it again." I muttered and casually looking over my shoulder, I saw Jason watching us.

He smiled when he saw me looking at him, but for some reason his eyes looked like they were trying to conceal something. I thought about my secrets—the things I kept from him—and I figured, with Jason knowing me as his sister, then he probably could've figured those things out by himself.

My eyes looked past Jason's shoulder and saw Phoebe staring at me, too. And by the way her eyes watched me, I was pretty sure her brain's turning haywire again. I glanced at Nico for a second—so what if he's a boy? Turning back to the swaying target, I thought about the _choice_ I had to do…assuming that I got the clues right from my dreams. If this was going to be between the Hunt and my being with the Camp Half-blood, then it's definitely not going to be easy…

There was a swift _Swoosh_, and Nico hit the moving target again, a few inches from the bull's eye. He cursed, and I found myself smirking.

When the time of choosing finally comes, I still didn't know what to pick. Hell, I still wasn't even sure what the choices were! But then I'd been thinking about this since that incident in Capture the Flag… I wasn't going to turn my back on my friends for the sake of an oath.

I had no idea how that would work out; I'd probably get on probation for even thinking about that—_I_ took that oath. But then for the past week, with the dreams and the incidents that happened, it got me to thinking about what I really believe in…

"Hey, I hit it again!"

The son of Hades practically gripped my shoulder, and I when saw the arrow pinned on the bull's eye for the second time, I remembered the two times I missed…

"Great job, Death boy." I smiled. "Now do it a hundred times more."

* * *

><p>AN: There! What do you think? Please let me know if any of the characters are OOC!

See you on the next chapter! :D


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